Worldwide, wireless/mobile communication networks operate across a large number of frequency bands and according to many different mobile communication standards or RATs (Radio Access Technologies). A conventional wireless communication device (WCD), such as a smartphone, may be configured to operate with multiple ones of the different standards or RATs. Furthermore, there is no association between the WCD and the frequency band, as in general different WCDs can be used within different carriers of the same band. Different band arrangements for multiple RATs can be allocated by regulators in different countries or regions. Even within a given region, different operators may use a different RAT configuration in each available band, and even the same operator may change this setup over time.
Before communication services may be accessed by the WCD, the WCD must find or acquire an available network with which to connect. In a conventional WCD network search, the WCD selects a frequency band in which to search for a network that operates according to a given network standard, and tunes a receiver of the WCD to a potentially large set or number of candidate carriers of the selected band, where the set depends on the RATs being searched. While the receiver dwells on each of the selected frequency carriers for 5 or 10 milliseconds (ms), the WCD searches specific RF waveforms/signals received in that band for sequential frames of a downlink signal formatted according to each network standard. The WCD sequentially repeats the search process, i.e., dwell and downlink signal search, across all of the possible frequency carriers for each of the different networks (i.e., network standards) within a given band until the WCD finds an available network. The number of allocated bands worldwide is already in excess of 40, and is expected to grow further. The sequential search process is inefficient and time consuming given that there may be hundreds or thousands of search possibilities that are searched in sequence.